Cory Chisel's volume of the "Upstairs at United" series is available now at all Exclusive Company locations. His next album is nearing completion and will be released in 2012.

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Cory Chisel’s “Death Won’t Send a Letter” was released through RCA’s Black Seal division in 2009. RCA has since shut down the subsidiary but offered Chisel the opportunity to stay on board. Chisel said he’s chosen to step outside of the recording industry and focus on the music first and foremost. Picking who will put out his newly recorded follow-up album will come later.

“We had a really great experience last time with RCA Records but this time opted to record before we decide who we’re going to release it with,” Chisel said. “It’s just a way to keep even more control. I had a great experience last time, but the less cooks in the kitchen the more happy I am.”

Look for announcements about how and when the album will be released in the first couple of months of 2012.

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After 2011’s loaded slate of touring and recording, 2012 is primed to be another big year for singer-songwriter Cory Chisel.

For starters, the new year will bring the release of the Appleton native’s second album. Although still without an official release date, recording recently wrapped after a three-week session at Nashville’s Welcome to 1979 studio.

Whereas his 2009 release, “Death Won’t Send a Letter,” was released through RCA Records’ Black Seal division — aimed at up-and-coming acts — this time Chisel has chosen to step outside of the industry and to keep the focus on the art.

After waves of cutbacks at RCA, Black Seal was shut down a short time after Chisel’s album hit store shelves. RCA continued to support the album, and Chisel had an offer to stay on board with RCA. He declined. Chisel said although he was grateful for his time on a major label, it was in his best interest to walk away.

“It became frustrating to in one hand have this major label behind you, yet they don’t even have anyone there to answer the phone because they’ve been downsized,” he said.

With the friendships forged from the time at RCA and subsequent tours, Chisel said he’ll have plenty of options when it’s time to decide who will release the yet-untitled album.

“We have the option at this point to go with a major label again with this new record, but I would be pretty shocked if we decided to take the plunge back in there,” he said.

Artistically, Chisel said he’s hoping he’s not just a little older but also a little wiser than he was two years ago.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with some really great artists in the past year. I worked with Rosanne Cash a little bit on a record she’s hopefully recording, and I’ve written songs with her, and really the process of working with really great writers helps you hone your craft quite a bit more,” he said. “I think it’s easier for the listener to understand what I’m trying to communicate, which I think is a good thing.”

The choice of the recording studio, Welcome to 1979, wasn’t without significance. Chisel said the folks at 1979 have a very particular point of view, one to which he’s very in tune.

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“It’s a very analog-driven, old school studio. ... It’s a really special place,” he said. As the name implies, none of the studio’s equipment was made after 1979.

Working alongside Chisel and longtime collaborator Adriel Harris were a group of young Nashville singers, “Kind of like fresh-faced kids,” as Chisel put it, “and we mixed that with seasoned veterans.”

Those vets would be Brad Pemberton and John Graboff — best known for playing with Ryan Adams and the Cardinals — and Mark Watrous, who has backed Karen Elson and played with the Greenhornes and the Raconteurs. The album is being produced by the Raconteurs’ Brendan Benson, who has served as both a collaborator and mentor over the past few years.

“A lot (of these musicians) are also our closest friends, which makes for a really intimate experience for everybody,” Chisel said.

The album is being mixed and will soon be mastered, with the finish line looking like some time in January. The official release, Chisel said, will probably be synched up with the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, in March.

“I’m not sure how many we’re going to actually release, but we cut about 17, 18 versions of songs. But for the actual record we’re probably going to trim that down to 13 or 14,” he said. “We don’t put out records every other day so we want to give people enough songs to listen to.”

Aside from South by Southwest, Chisel said he’s hoping the Wandering Sons will get to bring the new material to other major festivals in the summer — notably the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island and the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee, both of which Chisel played in 2011.

Three tracks set for the new album, “Never Meant to Love You,” “In The Deep End” and “Old Love,” were featured on Chisel’s vinyl release for Record Store Day’s Black Friday celebration.

He and Benson both cut their own volumes of the “Upstairs at United” series, which were released on vinyl on Nov. 25. Chisel’s five-song set contains the three originals, as well as covers of Tom Waits’ “Rosie” and the Bee Gees’ “The Change is Made.”

The one-take, all analog sessions were recorded in an apartment above Nashville’s United Record Pressing, the nation’s oldest vinyl record facility. Decades ago, the living space hosted parties for a slew of artists, including the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Temptations. The apartment also was used for overnight stays for many black artists who, at the time, couldn’t get a hotel room in the South.

“A big part of me wanting to be in (the ‘Upstairs at United’ project) is because I love the format and I think the best way to interact with music is to listen to a vinyl record,” Chisel said. “It makes you pay attention to it in a way that as an artist, that’s the canvas we’d like our things to be painted on.” Chisel’s volume of the series is available at all Exclusive Company locations — only in vinyl, of course.